The first time to the National Park was with a bus together with lots of other people that was on the same charter. I didn't go up the cable car because I figured I could do that later. The second time I went up there most roads were closed because of the forest fires, so I couldn't go where I wanted to. In addition the cable car was closed due to smoke. So I went to the park one final time on my final full day in Tenerife, and fortunately most of the fires were put out and the cable car was open, so I got to go to the (almost) top, at 3550 meters above the sea level.

PS: The movie "Clash of the Titans" (2010) was filmed in the desert like / sandy area.